


If I Should Fall

by kitsuchi (genusshrike)



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Blackcest, Community: hp_blackcest, F/M, Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-10-05
Updated: 2003-10-05
Packaged: 2017-10-08 23:05:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genusshrike/pseuds/kitsuchi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regulus is dead, and Lucius is pleased to share the news.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If I Should Fall

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the [](http://www.livejournal.com/users/hp_blackcest/profile)[**hp_blackcest**](http://www.livejournal.com/users/hp_blackcest/) challenge "fall".

When Lucius told her Regulus's fate, she didn't believe him.

"No," she said, when Lucius mentioned it over dinner. "No. Regulus wouldn't do that."

"Regulus didn't do his duty," Lucius replied lightly, and the wine in his glass was dark. "You can't just get up and leave, Narcissa. Serving our lord is for life."

_Your lord_, Narcissa would've corrected if she dared. She was not a Death Eater. She was married to one, she was in love with one, but she was not one.

"Your precious Regulus just couldn't understand that. So understand me, Narcissa, we had to do it."

"I suppose you killed him personally." In her mind, the words were whined, but aloud they were soft and clipped. Lucius shrugged.

"Who killed him is irrelevent."

"Is it?"

"I'm not sure why we're dicussing this, Narcissa. What does the death of a coward boy mean to you?"

Narcissa did not answer the insult, and her words were measured. "He was my cousin."

"Which is, of course, why I mentioned it. But cousin or not, why does it matter?" Narcissa didn't answer, and Lucius said, teasingly, "Narcissa? Why do you care what happened to Regulus?"

"I don't have to answer that."

"I suppose not. But seeing as it matters so much, I'll go into more detail. Regulus refused to complete a simple assignement. The sort most of us would do without a second thought. He made excuses, of course, like a coward. And you know we don't like cowards. We punish them. And so do you know what we did?" _Crucio._ "Of course you do. And do you know what Regulus did? He cried."

"He wouldn't."

"Oh, but he did. Like a baby. And you know what that's like, don't you, Narcissa? Being a bother yourself." Lucius's eyes flickered over to the cradle where Draco was asleep.

"I'm well aware of what a crying baby sounds like," Narcissa said, "and I know Regulus would never."

"Oh, you'd like to think that. But he would, and he did. We had him on his knees. 'Anything," he begged, 'please, I'll do anything, anything but that.'" Lucius made his voice high and mocking. "But that isn't good enough," he continued. "'Anything but that' isn't good enough. He's not the first person to try and back out of one of our lord's assignments. Sadly, he probably won't be the last. But hell, nobody ever _begged_ like he did."

"What was the assignment?" Narcissa asked, in response to Lucius's sneer.

"Nothing hard. A little infanticide."

They both looked at Draco, and Narcissa's pale skin whitened.

"No," she said.

"No?" Lucius's voice was mocking again. "Why not?"

"It wasn't your lord's assignment, was it, Lucius? It was yours."

Lucius smiled. "Very clever, Narcissa. If only Regulus had been clever enough to follow orders."

"To kill your son?"

"Nothing so easy as that, Narcissa. That would be far too easy a task, for him."

"As what you did to him was easy for you?"

"I like my wives faithful, Narcissa."

"Are you saying Draco is _his_? I only wish he were!" Narcissa froze then, at her outburst. She sighed. Her head shook, and she watched Draco. Still asleep, still asleep. "You killed him, Lucius," she whispered, and Lucius's answer was a smile. "He didn't disappoint his lord, but he annoyed you. So you killed him."

"He fell from grace, Narcissa. He had no respect for his superiors, and he was punished for it. What are you going to do about it?"

"_Nothing_," Narcissa replied, with bitterness, just as she knew she was supposed to.

"Exactly." Lucius looked over at Draco. The child stirred, and woke crying. Narcissa stared. Lucius laughed. "But you can shut his child up, lest I do it myself."

"I only wish I could," Narcissa replied, as she left the table to attend Draco. _I only wish he was._


End file.
